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Number of Pinoy overseas voters in Saudi Arabia surpasses 2009 mark

The number of Filipinos in Saudi Arabia who registered for Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) has surpassed registration figures in 2009, the Philippine Embasssy in Riyadh said.

Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago said they will still be conducting four more mobile registration campaigns in the coming weeks, the news site Arab News reported.

“On Sept. 3, the Philippine Embassy marked its 7,165th OAV registration and surpassed the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who registered in 2009, which totaled 7,163,” Tago said.

He said this year’s OAV figures "show the importance Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia give to their right to vote, despite 2013 being a mid-term election year."

Vice Consul Red Genotiva, the embassy’s OAV focal person, invited Filipinos who have not yet registered to immediately do so at the Philippine Embassy.

Genotiva also said they could go to the Philippine international schools in Riyadh and Buraidah during the embassy’s mobile OAV registration campaign to register.

But the vice consul urged Filipinos to register early, and avoid the long lines of last-minute registrants.

“We only have 52 days to go before the deadline for OAV registration on Oct. 31. Let’s avoid the crowds that traditionally gather during the last days of registration,” Genotiva said. - AM/VVP, GMA News